Ph - vs - Peat

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
soulFish;676963; said:
I agree a stable Ph is more desirable, than making spikes in it. But my real problem was the Ammonia spike, it jumped from .5 to 2.5 in 3 days! Last night I noticed my Leopards hiding and scratching, and also the shark was scratching, so I did some water testing and the Ammonia level was toxic, hence the weird behavior in the fish. So I am just trying to get help with finding the culprate in the Amonia spike. The Ph and the Peat was just the starting point.
my guess would be that maybe the peat is breaking down and adding to the bio load? i think if the peat was gone and a good water change and low feeding for a couple days your parameters would level out.my point with the p.h. was trying to change the water you have coming out of the tap is only going to make things worse.the only safe way to change your current water source is mix with r.o. water.Ive been there and tried that.just not good for the fish.if you can get some test kits and test for g.h- k.h- you will surprised that most fish will be just fine with the water you have coming out of your tap.
 
Sounds like you started a mini cycle with all the new changes over the weekend.

Craig
 
sounds like the tank is way overstocked.

20Gal Tank
3 Leopard Ctenopoma (2.5")
3 Giant Danio (2" & 2.5")
2 Redtail Botia Loach (2" & 1.5")
2 Glass Cats (2")
1 Royal Pleco (3")
1 Redtail Shark (1")
1 Albino Bichir (3")

even if the inch per gallon crap was REMOTELY reliable, you would still be incredibly overstocked. c'mon, a bichir?
 
lessing your bioload some will help, as stated above, thats alot of fish for such a small tank.
but where are you getting the peat from? I know some people buy from wal mart or hardware stores potting type or soil type peat... some work, but you have to be careful cause some have other chemicals or additives in them, and arn't so hot for a fish tank use...
 
The peat is the Fluval brand for the cans.

All these fish other than the Bichir and the Pleco did fine in the 10Gal. Never had a a Ammonia problem before in that tiny tank. So I dont thinkg that by adding two fish and doubling my tank size would give me negative results, especially since I'm running a 400emp HOB on this little tank

FYI this is a holding tank for one month for both the Pleco and Bichir. After that they are going into my 90Gal, which is curretly empty.
 
fluval peat is usually what I use, and have had great results...
 
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